Alibaba Group holdings Ltd continued its significant growth with strong cash flows enabling aggressive investment in cloud computing, digital media and entertainment to drive the digital transformation of the economy. The company reported net earnings of $1.43 billion, during its fiscal fourth quarter, while revenues came in at $5.61 billion, beating Wall Street expectations of $5.2 billion.

On the annual basis, the Chinese e-commerce giant posted a sharp increase in revenues and another jump in net income during the fiscal fourth quarter. Revenues from cloud computing and digital media and entertainment jumped 103% and 234% to $314 million and $571 million, respectively. However, earning per shares missed market expectations of $0.68. Its share prices traded in the red.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported its diluted earnings per share at $1 in the first quarter of fiscal 2018, thus beating estimates. The company's US net sales in the first three months of fiscal 2018 rose and stood at $75.44 billion, while Walmart International net sales declined to $27.1 billion. E-commerce sales at Wal-Mart US surged 63% in the first quarter. The company aims to combine its digital and physical assets to make shopping simple and easy for customers. Wal-Mart shares traded in the green area following the positive result.

Technology

The manufacturer of electronic equipment Sharp Corp. revealed it would back the technology investment vehicle of online business powerhouse SoftBank Group Corp. It opted to contribute a maximum of 1% of the projected $100 billion over five years.

Sharp was taken over last year for $3.8 billion by the Taiwanese company, better known as Foxconn Technology Group. Japan's Softbank Vision Fund has received dominant support from Saudi Arabia.

The company has set a new direction to expand its businesses aggressively forward and transform itself into one of the world’s top IoT (Internet of Things) companies. The fund aims to invest in IoT and other leading-edge technologies and Sharp expects the fund will forge new business sectors.

Automotive Industry

General Motors Company will be pulling its Chevrolet vehicles out of India by the end of the year but will continue its production of cars for export in the country. The GM factory in Talegaon in India will continue operating and cars manufactured there will sell in Mexico and South America.

The carmaker also stated it in its agreement with Isuzu Motors to sell its South African operations and phase out the Chevrolet brand in the African country. The company also reiterated to work with the PSA Group to "evaluate the future opportunity for the Opel brand" in South Africa. However, General Motors will continue to offer support for existing Chevrolet customers in both countries, as well as Opel customers in South Africa.

Disclaimer:

This article was issued by Rodrick Duca, Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article is being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.

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